Early Retirement Extreme Forums

So let's say you've successfully ERE'd at the age of 35, so you quit your high-paying job and you're ready for the next stage of life. You decide you want to keep busy via a part-time job that gives you the best bang for work/life balance.

What part-time work would you consider just for the lifestyle it provides?

Which jobs could provide a great social life? Which jobs could help someone lose weight & stay healthy?

MMM's approach was to build houses, but that is definitely hard to keep to strictly 'part-time', it's more seasonal type work at least, 50-60 hours a week during good weather, not exactly the choice of the average EREr I imagine.

Work in a/as:
Seasonal resort. Fly fishing guide. Campground host. Work for the state fair. Local YMCA. Outdoor equipment rental company. REI camping/biking/hiking excursions. Dog walker. Small time fabrication. Assist party events or planning.

Farming? Gardening? Livestock?

Work doesn't have to be a four letter word. When you finally gain some control over your life, you can find the joy in doing anything challenging.

I still apply myself to my duties as I did when I was working for the man. Initially, I thought that I must have become addicted to the work ethic. But I have seemed to have transcended that idea or replaced it with artistic meaning.

Everything we do offers opportunity to express your being. Including everything that you don't do.

Gardening strikes me as an obvious option, especially if you can take produce home at the end of the day, for cutting down on food costs.

I would also consider opening a bakery, brewery, carpentry business, or monetising any other hobbies. Albeit, on a part time or informal basis, so it doesn't become too much like hard work!

part-time english teacher abroad
surf/ski/whatever sport you like instructor
artist
writer
pet/house sitter
Airbnb experience curator

Forestry.

Forestry, plus carpentry. I will be making one off object d'art. Preferably from my own trees. Mainly using parts generally wasted. Stumps and roots.

The only one I've thought about is working for one of the outfitters up near where I'll be summering. Light mannual labor and they are busiest on the weekend, leaving me free during the midweek periods when it's easier to find a tranquil spot to enjoy life. I also think working with the DNR would be interesting, doing fish surveys on the area lakes. But those really don't offer much to my desired lifestyle, they would just align with it. It would take either boredom or financial setbacks to get me on that path, so hopefully it won't happen.

I ended up with that gig creating 3D computer graphics for video games. Wasn't even looking for it, but it fits with my interests.

Fish surveys (salmon/steelhead spawning, creel surveys) are possible here-abouts and that's something I wouldn't mind doing, but I wasn't free the last time there were openings.

Now that bottle/can deposits are worth 10 cents, a little beachcombing & roadside cleanup is worthwhile again.

Seems like this list will vary according to the person. Mine would be (will be!) dog walker (because I could probably walk my own dogs while walking my clients' dogs), house sitter (not live-in, just check on the mail, come in and out, make sure groceries are in when the people come home, etc.), occasional caterer, occasional worker at estate sales (helping set up, helping with sales (and picking thru the stuff for sale before the general public sees it....), stuff like that.

I MIGHT actually do some iteration of my current job if I could figure out how to do it a couple days a week, or on an occasional basis. My dream deal would be to be called in to work as a temp at my current employer while people are on vacation or on leave or something. Work maybe up to 6 weeks, at my current hourly rate, and then say "see ya!" until they need me again. I think it would be fun because it would keep me sharp, keep certain skills alive, have a certain social factor, but wouldn't be a drudge because I'd know the end date.

But mostly I want to walk dogs and stuff. Be OUTSIDE after years of office work and grey cubicles.

I've had this little fantasy of living in or near a neighborhood with a Prius in every driveway, Bernie/Hillary/Green Party voters, full on faux-Environmentalists and stuff, and start a little lawn mowing business. I'd market it as environmentally sound - and charge extra. Employing me would be sort of like buying carbon credits, and my customers can feel like they are doing their part to save the world (while they buy a new Prius every few years, have a McManshion or big old fancy house full of stuff that will be in a landfil in 10 years, and so on...)

I'd get a bike trailer to haul around a reel type lawn mower, hand edger, etc. I'd use zero motorized equipment for mowing or transportation.

I liked mowing my lawn when I had a yard. I think I'd like getting paid to do it. I'd probably limit my business volume to about 10 hours of work per week. This would get a bit of money and some decent exercise.

I'm sure there are other simple business types like this that require limited capital and combine exercise and work.

Night shift security guard. Though I'd only do it if I could be left alone and mess around on my laptop. If they want me to play Paul Blart and ward off baddies or something, forget it.

brute has been fantasizing that some type of contractor/carpenter job might be fun for a while. or maybe mechanic. not as a career, but to keep busy, learn a few cool skills.

Another of my fantasy lifestyle jobs is a long-term house sitting gig in some nice place 'up in the hills' with a pool, a nice view, good roads to bike on, super attractive neighbors, etc.

I imagine that if you get a good "in" with some people with either really nice houses or houses in really nice places, this could be a regular thing.

A friend of mine has a vacation house in Costa Rica, and as I understand, there's basically no one there unless he or his mom go there. I think ~servants maintain the landscaping and stuff. I want to go live there for a while. Maybe I should come up with a good reason why.. (like, I could manage renting it as a vacation house to make money off it, and live in the guest house or servants quarters or whatever while people are renting it.)

and procreate with all the attractive Costa Rican neighbors. scorched earth baby.

Of course. But I mean, probably not ALL. I'm not greedy. I don't think I understand the 'scorched earth' connection there(?)

Hmmm, I was going to say "teaching or coaching".

But this might mean something different in the context of the last couple posts.

Robert California created his own ideal post retirement lifestyle job, some certain kind of "educating or mentoring"
http://www.nbc.com/the-office/video/goo ... nia/n22068

Yes, its all about those "muscle groups" that we can't even fathom.

Well, maybe not for me. Yes, that would be bad.

It's not necessarily a low key kind of thing, but I've considered getting a wilderness EMT, in the hope that I could maybe get invited on climbing/mountaineering trips and expeditions as a 'medical guy' eventually (so I could hopefully go cheaply or even free), and also maybe pick up some seasonal work as a ranger or something similar. I haven't done enough research to figure out if this is really viable, but I've been wanting to do some more climbing and exploring as I get more free time, and this seemed like it might be a good way to do it. I also recently read the book 'A Thousand Naked Strangers', and that re-kindled my interest in that sort of thing (regular EMT/paramedic, not in the wilderness) as a way to have some new experiences and see a different part of life, and maybe a different part of society - I know it could be difficult and stressful though, and not sure I'd really be likely to go through with that part of it, but it'd be an option.